Sri Lanka

Environmental Day 2012 - making the world a better place

September 2012 │ Sri Lanka

In March this year, to celebrate World Environmental Day, Deutsche Bank Colombo supported “My Country – My Future”, an initiative by a group of young people who are passionate about the environment. The programme was spearheaded by ECO-V, a non-governmental environmental organisation. Over a span of six months, 21 youth ambassadors were scheduled to visit rural local communities to spread the green message to the youth, elders of communities and also the governmental institutions with whom the majority of the responsibility lies for preserving the environment.

The campaign was conducted along the Kelani River covering four Districts and three provinces of Sri Lanka. The project kicked off in March 2012 when Eco V carried out a presentation to Deutsche Bank staff on climate change and the impact of man on mother earth. The session also included an interesting interactive session on invasive species of plants.

Activities also included a tree planting campaign along the river banks. The area identified was under threat of erosion due to deforestation. A special tree planting campaign was organized on Saturday, August 4, at Ruwanwella for the benefit of Deutsche Bank employees who were unable to join the ongoing weekday activities of the project in March. There were roughly 20 volunteers from Eco-V at the site to help staff to complete the project.

Deutsche Bank staff also participated in awareness programmes, and exhibitions conducted by ECO-V along the banks of Kelani river where the local communities were educated of the value of preserving the Kelani River which is the main source of drinking water for Colombo.